Jammu: The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday held protests against the National Conference government in Jammu and Kashmir for its “failure on all fronts, including non-fulfilment of poll promises”.
The party also sought resignation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for allegedly “losing control over his government”.
Led by PDP’s Jammu general secretary Rajinder Singh Manhas, scores of party workers, carrying placards and raising slogans, protested outside the party headquarters in Jammu.
“The National Conference (NC) government has failed on all fronts. They have failed to deliver on their commitments and have betrayed the people. Under their more than one-year rule, Jammu and Kashmir and its people are facing problems on every front,” Manhas told reporters.
He accused the government of indulging in blame games instead of taking responsibility, and said issues like squad selection for the Santosh Trophy football championship are being used to divert attention from core public concerns.
“The Santosh Trophy team selection is diverting people’s attention from the failure of the NC government on all fronts. They say the decision is not in their hands. They blame it on the lieutenant-governor, and the lieutenant-governor blames it on the Omar Abdullah government. They do not have command over the government. So, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his NC government should resign,” Manhas said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council came under criticism recently after several political parties and organisations alleged bias in Santosh Trophy team selection, stating that it discriminated against players from Jammu while prioritising those from Kashmir.
Manhas said the NC government has failed to implement its promises, including 200 units of free electricity, power bill waiver, one lakh jobs for youth, regularisation of 65,000 daily wagers and free LPG cylinders for women. “They deceived people during the elections,” he said.
The PDP leader further alleged that the state has come to a standstill on the development front and “issues after issues have made people suffer”.
“The deficient supply of stents and other cardiac devices has also made patients in the UT suffer,” he added.
NC’s facade of fighting for Article 370 is over: PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday accused the ruling National Conference of giving up its fight for restoration of special status for Jammu and Kashmir while implementing BJP’s agenda of statehood.
PDP leader Waheed Para said the facade of National Conference fighting for Article 370 was over.
In a post on X, the party said, “From branding everyone as BJP’s B Team to now implementing BJP’s agenda of statehood and business rules, NC has completed the normalisation of Aug 5 (Article 370 abrogation) and cemented the holy alliance.”
“So, the facade of NC ‘fighting’ for Article 370 is over. From promising special status in elections to now requesting ‘business rules’,” Para posted on X.
The party was reacting to the memorandum submitted by three National Conference Rajya Sabha members to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday in which they had sought restoration of statehood, notifying business rules for administration in Jammu and Kashmir and shifting prisoners lodged outside jails back to prisons in the union territory.
